England forward Bukayo Saka was not named in Arsenal’s matchday squad for its UEFA Champions League 2025-26 quarterfinal first-leg clash against Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday.

Saka had been sidelined since late January when he suffered an injury during warm-up ahead of the Gunners’ Premier League fixture against Leeds United on January 31.

Since then, the 24-year-old has missed the EFL Cup semifinal second-leg clash against Chelsea and the FA Cup quarterfinal match against Southampton, both of which Arsenal lost. However, he did start for the Premier League leader in the EFL Cup final against Manchester City which was sandwiched between the aforementioned two fixtures.

Saka was also not in England’s squad for two friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.

“No [whether they have trained], they are having trouble. They are not ready yet. Let’s see, hopefully they’ll be ready for the weekend if everything goes well,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said on the eve of the Champions League fixture, confirming Saka and Jurrien Timber’s absence during training.

Published on Apr 07, 2026